Well, at least this long-running saga has finally come to an end. I won’t say a happy one; however, as this unprincipled monster Supreme Court Justice Gerald Gerson was finally sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison. It wasn’t nearly enough but it was the best we could hope for; so I guess I’ll say I’m somewhat content. Hopefully Gerson will die in prison and I can finally say case closed.
Gerson destroyed the lives of dozens of mothers and their children (actually we’ll never know how many as none of the cases he fixed will be re-opened) and they allowed ONE of his victims (the mother of two sons) to speak at his sentencing.
Big deal.
Accepting bribes to fix custody cases, 99.9% of them businessmen in Brooklyn attempting to either get out of paying child support or to cheat their wives out of family assets by holding the kids as poker chips to be doled out in exchange for various concessions, this monster Gerson went his merry way aiding and abetting this pack of greedy beasts. Who, btw, for all intents and purposes got away with manipulating our legal system; but at least one of them didn’t, Gerson himself.
All I can say about this Gerson is good riddance to bad rubbish and leave it at that.
I would like to give a big shout out to Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes for finally bringing this monster down.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file/2007/06/06/2007-06-06_ready_their_jail_cells-2.html
Ready their jail cells
Judge sentenced to 3-to-10; Brooklyn big sent to Rikers
BY NANCIE L. KATZ
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, June 6th 2007, 4:00 AM
Two former Brooklyn powerhouses - a Democratic leader and a judge - were led out of court in handcuffs yesterday in a corruption scandal that has prompted calls for sweeping changes in picking jurists.
"I am profoundly sorry," cried ex-Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Gerald Garson, 74, who broke into sobs before being sentenced to three to 10 years behind bars for accepting bribes.
Garson was convicted of taking cash, cigars, dinners and drinks from a crooked lawyer - all caught on tape - in return for favors.
"As I watched the tapes, I was embarrassed and appalled at my demeanor," he sobbed.
Just a few hours earlier in the same courtroom, Clarence Norman, the former Brooklyn Democratic Party chairman and 11-term assemblyman, was shackled and ordered to begin a two-to-six-year sentence for campaign corruption. His appeal was rejected last week.
"God is good," Norman said, hugging relatives before being shipped off to Rikers Island.
The courtroom drama yesterday closed the circle on a four-year probe into judicial corruption by Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes, who began going after Norman when Garson told investigators at his March 2003 arrest that the bench could be bought. No hard evidence has emerged of that yet, but the probe is continuing.
Yesterday, in a courtroom packed with family and Brooklyn residents who believed Garson had done them wrong, Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Berry slammed Garson for tainting the judiciary by allowing crooked lawyer Paul Siminovsky to "sucker him into" giving him lucrative appointments and fixing a case in exchange for thousands of dollars in free meals, drinks, cigars and cash.
"What you brought upon yourself is terrible. ... The perception you gave is that justice was being bought," Berry said in an hour-long speech before announcing the sentence. "You should be as pure as the driven snow. You abdicated your judicial responsibility, your moral fiber."
Sigal Levi said she no longer has a relationship with her two oldest sons because Garson gave custody to her ex.
"Mr. Garson, you sold my children for a very cheap price," said Levi, whose husband pleaded guilty to paying $10,000 to a middleman to gain custody. "You had a moral obligation to protect the welfare of my children. You abused the system and ruined all our lives."
Defense attorney Michael Washor asked Berry for leniency, citing Garson's battle with cancer and heart disease, personal tragedies and his bout with alcoholism.
But prosecutor Michael Vecchione shot back, branding Garson's courtroom a "vile, corrupt place" that he treated as a personal "piggy bank."
Garson does not have to head straight to jail, however. An Appellate Division judge allowed him to stay out of jail on bail pending his appeal. Garson declined to comment.
A federal judge ruled in August that the process for selecting state Supreme Court justices - where party bosses pick the candidates - is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to back-room wheeling and dealing.
5 comments:
Great Blog. I had no idea this was going on. If you're in town over July 4th you should check out, Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman, a documentary opening at Film Forum. It chronicles the lives of women around the world, including a New York woman's long battle for child support.
Now, if only we could draw up a list of judges elsewhere in New York State and elsewhere and have them investigated. My nominee: Judge Willard Cass of Chautauqua County, NY.
I have heard upstate NY (at least for mothers) is just like the deep south used to be for Afr. Americans, but w/o the accent...no justice in the courts...
Garson WAS NOT CHARGED WITH TAKING BRIBES TO FIX CASES. DA concedes as much on the record. This is the biggest media witchhunt with devastating results in the history of Brooklyn. Lots of people making big $ and political gain. Boorhish old man destroyed for a box of cigars and the lies of a woman charged with domestic abuse of her son when she tried to get a fixer to bribe a JUDGE AND COULDN'T, SO SHE WENT TO da RATHER THAN TO JAIL. sEE THE OFFICIAL INDICTMENT AND TRANSCRIPTS, NOT PRESS RELEASES AND NONSENSE. yOU ONLY ARE INTERESTED IN YOUR OWN ADVANTAGES, NOT JUSTICE. sHAME ON YOU. gARSON RENDERED SOME OF THE MOST WOMAN FREINDLY DECISIONS ON THE BENCH BECAUSE HE HAD GUTS. hE SAVED CHILDREN FROM OUTRAGEOUS GAMESMANSHIP AND ORTHODOX WOMEN FROM A LIFETIME OF SUFFERING. wHY DON'T YOU ACTUALLY CHECK OUT THE FACTS? hE'S NO ANGEL - BUT HE SURE ISN'T THE DEVIL.
I don't care what they 'charged' him with, he destroyed the lives of dozens of mothers and children by helping their husbands work the system.
He took cigars and other gifts as well as cash so don't try to make this about just a few cigars.
Most of the cases he fixed involved businessMEN so don't try to fixiate on ONE OR TWO WOMEN who were involved and make it seem like this was an equal opportunity situation, it was not. HE aided and abetted mostly men to work the system and used children as pawns against mothers to force them to accept lesser property settlements or risk not being able to even see their children again.
He was a monster who deserved everything he got and then some. I'm just sorry the greedy and savage beasts he helped couldn't have been sent to prison as well.
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